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China Clipper (1936 film)
China Clipper is a 1936 drama film directed by Ray Enright and written by Frank Wead, produced by First National Pictures, distributed by parent company Warner Brothers, and starring Pat O'Brien, Ross Alexander, Humphrey Bogart and, in his last motion picture appearance, the venerable Henry B. Walthall as "Dad." Walthall was gravely ill during production and his illness is incorporated into his character's role; he died during production. Plot In the mid-1930s, Dave Logan (Pat O'Brien) is obsessed and struggling to build and fly a new ocean-going flying boat airline with the prospects of reaching China from San Francisco. His wife, Jean (Beverly Roberts) and his boss, Jim Horn (Joseph Crehan), try to discourage him but he enlists war buddies "Dad" Brunn (Henry B. Walthall), to design his aircraft and pilot Tom Collins (Ross Alexander) to start an airline between Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. Undeterred when the airline fails, the group start a second airline in Key West, Florida, to deliver mail throughout the Caribbean. Another pilot friend, Hap Stuart (Humphrey Bogart), signs up and as the airline begins to prosper, Logan becomes more obsessed, making life difficult for all around him including his wife and best friends. Jean and Hap quit but come back on the eve of an important proving flight. The new "China Clipper" is the last project for Dad, who succumbs to a heart attack shortly after the takeoff. When the China Clipper encounters a severe storm off the China coast, Logan decides to cancel the flight, but Hap brings the flight in safely, with a few minutes to spare, securing a contract. Cast * Pat O'Brien as Dave Logan * Beverly Roberts as Jean "Skippy" Logan * Ross Alexander as Tom Collins * Humphrey Bogart as Hap Stuart * Marie Wilson as Sunny Avery * Joseph Crehan as Jim Horn * Addison Richards as Mr. B.C. Hill * Ruth Robinson as Mother Brunn * Henry B. Walthall as "Dad" Brunn * Carlyle Moore Jr. as Clipper radio operator * Lyle Moraine as Clipper Co-pilot * Dennis Moore as Clipper engineer * Wayne Morris as Clipper navigator * Alexander Cross as Bill Andrews * William Wright as Pilot who won't fly * Kenneth Harlan as Commerce Inspector * Anne Nagel as Logan's receptionist * Marjorie Weaver as Logan's secretary * Milburn Stone as Radio operator * Owen King as Radio operator Production The screenwriter of China Clipper, Frank "Spig" Wead, based the film on a thinly disguised bio of the life of Juan Trippe, in particular, his life just prior to, during and after the founding of Pan American Airways. Filmed with the cooperation of Pan Am, actual newsreel and production footage of the Martin M-130 is used throughout the film to emphasize the story just as it was happening for Trippe in real life.Yenne 2003, p. 82. The flying sequences were the highlight of the film with famed Hollywood stunt pilot Paul Mantz working with veterans Elmer Dyer and H. F. Koenekamp to create realistic aerial photography. There are scenes of the aircraft flying over the incomplete Golden Gate Bridge while it was still under construction. The film is a rare example of a new technology and mode of travel put before the Hollywood cameras just as it was developing.The American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States: Feature Films, 1931-1940. Berkeley, California: University of California Press, 1993. ISBN 978-0-52007-908-3 Reception Despite Warner Bros.' typical casting and plot, China Clipper was well received as its packaging did not detract from the timely account of a transpacific flight. Frank S. Nugent in his review for The New York Times, commented, "A fascinating and surprisingly literal dramatization of the China Clipper's transpacific flight of last November, the picture deserves a respectful accolade both for its technical accuracy and for its rather astonishing refusal to describe the flying boat's journey in the stock terms of aerial melodrama."Nugent, Frank S. China Clipper (1936) "The screen: Warners' 'China Clipper' at Strand documents dramatic story of a transpacific flight." The New York Times, August 12, 1936. In popular culture *A line from this movie that is spoken several times, "China Clipper calling Alameda," is repeated by Davy Jones in The Monkees' spoken-word song "Zilch," from their 1967 album Headquarters. References Notes Bibliography * Yenne, Bill. Seaplanes & Flying Boats: A Timeless Collection from Aviation's Golden Age. New York: BCL Press, 2003. ISBN 1-932302-03-4. External links * * [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027445/ China Clipper at IMDb.com] * allmovie/synopsis * lobby posters Category:1936 films Category:Live-action films Category:Warner Bros. films Category:Films Category:Unrated films Category:Theatrical films Category:Aviation films Category:American films Category:First National Pictures films Category:Drama films Category:Black-and-white films Category:Vitaphone films Category:Films made before the MPAA Production Code